Contents

Chapter Description

This chapter shows the basic Nexus 5x00 and Nexus 7000 configurations necessary to provide a Unified access method for LAN data traffic and SAN storage traffic. The multiple technologies that can be used with Unified Fabric such as NPV, NPIV FCOE-NPV, Storage VDCs, and shared interfaces are illustrated, and various use cases are discussed.

From the Book

Nexus 7000 Unified Fabric Configuration

The Nexus 7000 provides director class support for FCoE solutions and can be used in both core and edge topologies. The platforms provides the high-availability features and capabilities such as redundant supervisors, redundant hardware components, and the inherent availability components of NX-OS, such as Storage VDCs. In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU), Stateful Switch Over (SSO) and stateful process restart make for a solid foundation.

FCoE on the Nexus 7000 is available on the F1 (N7K-F132XP-15) and F2/F2e (N7K-F248XP-25) modules. When using FCoE on the F2/F2e module, a Supervisor 2 or Supervisor 2E must be used. FCoE on F2/F2e cannot work with a Supervisor 1 module. FCoE is also a licensed feature, and the license is bound to a module, so if FCoE will be used across multiple modules in a chassis, there must be an FCoE license installed per module.

With these requirements met, FCoE can be installed on the Nexus 7000. FCoE installation requires the system QoS policy is configured to a template that provides a no-drop class. This is configured in either the default VDC or the admin VDC if running NX_OS 6.1(1) or later. The default QoS policy uses eight drop classes and is named default-np-8e-policy. Example 8-12 shows the QoS classes available to be selected and shows the change to a single no-drop class. This policy matches FCoE traffic in CoS 3 and provides a lossless Ethernet transport (no drop).

With the QoS policy mapped to a no-drop policy, the next step is to install the FCoE feature set and configure a Storage VDC. This enables FCoE across the entire chassis and then creates a VDC to be used for storage functions. Example 8-13 describes this process.

The next step is to configure the storage VDC by allocating ports from modules, allocating a range of VLANs for use with FCoE, and then setting up the VDC for FCoE usage. Because this VDC is new, the switch prompts for a few items such as system password strength, password, and to run the setup script. When completed, basic FCoE configuration can begin. Example 8-14 walks through this process.

Example 8-14. Allocation of Ports and Initial VDC Configuration

N7K-1# config
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
N7K-1(config)# vdc fcoe
N7K-1(config-vdc)# allocate interface e6/17,e6/27,e6/29-32
Entire port-group is not present in the command. Missing ports will be included
automatically
Moving ports will cause all config associated to them in source vdc to be removed.
Are you sure you want to move the ports (y/n)? [yes] yes
N7K-1(config-vdc)# allocate fcoe-vlan-range 2000 from vdc Access1
N7K-1(config-vdc)# end
N7K-1#
N7K-1# switchto vdc fcoe
---- System Admin Account Setup ----
Do you want to enforce secure password standard (yes/no) [y]: n
Enter the password for "admin":
Confirm the password for "admin":
---- Basic System Configuration Dialog VDC: 5 ----
This setup utility will guide you through the basic configuration of
the system. Setup configures only enough connectivity for management
of the system.
Please register Cisco Nexus7000 Family devices promptly with your
supplier. Failure to register may affect response times for initial
service calls. Nexus7000 devices must be registered to receive
entitled support services.
Press Enter at anytime to skip a dialog. Use ctrl-c at anytime
to skip the remaining dialogs.
Would you like to enter the basic configuration dialog (yes/no): no
Cisco Nexus Operating System (NX-OS) Software
TAC support: http://www.cisco.com/tac
Copyright (c) 2002-2012, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
The copyrights to certain works contained in this software are
owned by other third parties and used and distributed under
license. Certain components of this software are licensed under
the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.0 or the GNU
Lesser General Public License (LGPL) Version 2.1. A copy of each
such license is available at
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.php and
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.php
N7K-1-FCoE#
N7K-1-FCoE# config
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
N7K-1-FCoE(config)# feature-set fcoe
N7K-1-FCoE(config)# feature npiv
N7K-1-FCoE(config)# feature lldp
N7K-1-FCoE(config)# vsan database
N7K-1-FCoE(config-vsan-db)# vsan 2000
N7K-1-FCoE(config-vsan-db)# vlan 2000
N7K-1-FCoE(config-vlan)# fcoe
N7K-1-FCoE(config-vlan)# end
N7K-1-FCoE(config)# end
N7K-1-FCoE#
N7K-1-FCoE# show vlan fcoe
Original VLAN ID Translated VSAN ID Association State
---------------- ------------------ -----------------
2000 2000 Operational
N7K-1-FCoE#
N7K-1-FCoE(config)# end
N7K-1-FCoE#

With the foundation for FCoE configured, the next step is to provision connectivity. Figure 8-13 shows the topology the following examples use.

Figure 8-13. FCoE Topology Between Nexus 7000 and MDS

The first step is to configure the Ethernet interfaces, add them to a port channel for additional bandwidth on the ISL and redundancy, and then configure the VFC, as shown in Example 8-15.

FCoE on the Nexus 7000 also supports a unique capability that enables interfaces to be shared between two VDCs. This enables the Nexus 7000 to be used in the access layer of networks where servers connect to the switch and use FCoE. A shared interface enables FCoE traffic to be segmented into the Storage VDC at the edge of the network. When an interface is shared between two VDCs, a few rules must be followed:

Interfaces can be shared only between one Ethernet VDC and one Storage VDC.

Interfaces to be shared must be configured as 802.1Q trunks in the Ethernet VDC.

Interfaces may be shared only from the Ethernet VDC that allocated VLANs to the Storage VDC.

The Ethernet VDC “owns” the physical interface. If the interface is admin down in the Ethernet VDC, it will be admin down in the Storage VDC.

All ports that have a common ASIC must be allocated as shared interfaces. This is done in groups of two on the F1 modules and groups of four on F2/F2e modules.

NOTE

If all the shared ASIC ports are not configured as trunks, allocation as shared interfaces will fail.

In Example 8-17, four ports are configured as trunks in the Ethernet VDC and then configured for shared interfaces in the Storage VDC.

Example 8-17. Nexus 7000 Shared Interface Allocation

N7K-1# config
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
N7K-1(config)# vdc fcoe
N7K-1(config-vdc)# allocate shared interface e6/17
Entire port-group is not present in the command. Missing ports will be included
automatically
Ports that share the port group of the interfaces you have specified will be affected
as well. Continue (y/n)? [yes] yes
N7K-1(config-vdc)# end
N7K-1# fcoe
Cisco Nexus Operating System (NX-OS) Software
TAC support: http://www.cisco.com/tac
Copyright (c) 2002-2012, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
The copyrights to certain works contained in this software are
owned by other third parties and used and distributed under
license. Certain components of this software are licensed under
the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.0 or the GNU
Lesser General Public License (LGPL) Version 2.1. A copy of each
such license is available at
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.php and
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.php
N7K-1-FCoE# show int brief
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interface Status Speed
(Gbps)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sup-fc0 up 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethernet VLAN Type Mode Status Reason Speed Por
t
Interface Ch
#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eth6/17 1 eth trunk down Administratively down auto(D) --
Eth6/18 1 eth trunk down Administratively down auto(D) --
Eth6/19 1 eth trunk down Administratively down auto(D) --
Eth6/20 1 eth trunk down Administratively down auto(D) --
Eth6/25 -- eth routed down Administratively down auto(D) --
Eth6/26 -- eth routed down Administratively down auto(D) --
Eth6/27 -- eth routed down Administratively down auto(D) --
Eth6/28 -- eth routed down SFP not inserted auto(D) --
Eth6/29 1 eth trunk up none 10G(D) 258
Eth6/30 1 eth trunk up none 10G(D) 258
N7K-1-FCoE#

The next step required is to create the VFC interface for the host and specify the shared interface as the binding. This is the same syntax used on the Nexus 5x00 earlier in the chapter. Example 8-18 shows the process for the topology shown in Figure 8-14.

With the VFCs created and bound, VEs created to the MDS, and both storage and hosts connected to the fabric, the last step would be to configure zoning and device aliasing for the FC network. The Nexus switches can participate in zoning with a Fibre Channel network.

NOTE

Nexus 5x00 when configured in the NPV or FCoE-NPV mode do not participate in zoning and aliasing because they rely on the upstream device to perform those functions.